PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A pedestrian died in the Cully neighborhood after being struck by a car on Sunday night.
Polic found the pedestrian unconscious near Northeast Portland Highway and Northeast 45th Avenue just after 8 p.m. after getting a report of a crash. The person died at the scene.
The Major Crash Team is investigating but did not release any information about the car involved.
Northeast Portland Highway is closed between Northeast 45th Avenue and Northeast 55th Avenue to all traffic. It will likely remain closed for several hours during the investigation, said Portland Police Bureau.
Neighbors told KOIN 6 News portions of the road are not well lit, and people frequently walk to and from a nearby tavern on this stretch of road. They also note that there is a homeless camp just beyond the trees nearby.
Many feel that more crosswalks and better lighting are needed to keep pedestrians safe.
“There is nobody out here,” said Parker VanAcker, who rides his motorcycle on this road frequently. “You can go fast, you can go slow, you can do whatever you really want because there’s not really any police out here, but I just can’t believe someone would be hit.”
Northeast Portland Highway (Lombard Street) is a designated “high-crash street” by the Portland Bureau of Transportation, meaning that, “more than half of deadly crashes occur on just 8% of Portland’s streets. These streets make up the High Crash Network.”
